New Preschool Will Cater to Infants, Toddlers

By Amber Lester Kennedy Thursday, October 28, 2010

Two years ago, Rachel Johnston faced a quandary. As a new mother who hoped to continue working, she needed to find a daycare solution for her infant son that would incorporate developmental education. But she found she was chasing a dream.

While the Williamsburg area does have preschools and daycares that accept infants, there aren’t enough to meet the demand, she says. She put her name on waiting lists all over town, and ultimately, her mother, Priscilla Krakaur, retired from Walsingham Academy to care for her grandson. Johnston remembers resolving to never put another mother through the same experience.

In January, Johnston will open the doors to The Kensington School, a new preschool for infants and toddlers. The Kensington School, located in the same Greensprings Plantation business park as Providence Classical School, will admit children ages six weeks to four years old. The 8,000-square-foot space features designated rooms for each age group: six weeks to nine months; 10 to 17 months; two year olds; three year olds; and four year olds.

The school will kick off its enrollment drive Nov. 1. Depending on how many families enroll, Johnston expects to have a staff of five teachers overseen by school director Kathryn Mirick. Mirick is a 2009 graduate of Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development; she is currently pursuing her master’s degree in special education from Old Dominion University. She has worked for the past year as a lead teacher for a classroom of one-year-old babies in a private preschool.

Johnston said she was motivated to provide another option for parents who are looking for an educational daycare for their infants and toddlers. The demand exists; she says Sentara Williamsburg delivers 1,000 babies a year and many families cannot afford to live in Williamsburg without two incomes. She wanted to create a school that gave parents a variety of options; as such, parents can enroll their children at any time, choose from full- or half-day care for two, three or five days a week and can visit their children at school whenever they want.

“Parents want options,” Johnston said. “I found myself saying, ‘I’m going to send my child to the first available preschool,’ but that’s not what I wanted.”

Between William & Mary’s preschool, the YMCA, The Goddard School, Creative Critters, Child Care Networks and La Petite Academy, only a handful of spots open up for infants and toddlers per year, Johnston said. Most church-based preschools do not accept infants, either.

Johnston said The Kensington School will be able to teach a traditional curriculum to help babies’ development, while incorporating the arts and age-appropriate physical activity, including baby yoga. Mirick hopes to instruct students in sign language, in addition to developing their vocal language skills. The school will also feature a library and a multipurpose room where visiting performers can entertain the children.

Johnston wants to ensure the school is safe, so parents will sign their children in and out using biometric finger printing that will recognize them when their finger is scanned by a computer. Teachers will be licensed to work with children, certified in first aid and CPR, and must pass criminal background investigations prior to being hired.

The school will open for business Jan. 2, 2011, and will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tuition costs will vary depending on the age of the child and his or her schedule, but Johnston says a half-day schedule will start at $300 a month. For more information, call (757) 645-2047.